For building elements located adjacent a building structure, it may be important for the building element to be connected, at least from time to time, in a manner to gain some stability from the building structure. This may be important to stop the building element from hitting the building structure, gain lateral support from the building structure and/or provide stability to the element.
For example, for scaffolding erected adjacent a building structure or more particularly for a scaffolding erected inside an elevator shaft of a building, it is important for the scaffolding to be tied to the building so as to receive some stability from the building structure. In particular, lateral stability.
To achieve this support from a building structure short arms are typically used to extend between the scaffolding and the walls of the elevator shaft. Towards one end of a short arm a clamp coupling is usually used to secure the short arm to a ledger or standard of the scaffolding structure. The other end of the arm may be provided with an anchoring plate adapted to be bolted to a wall of the elevator shaft. Disadvantages of this way of laterally stabilising a scaffold structure include:
a) a significant amount of work is required to connect the short arms to the scaffolding structure,
b) the arm may not be firmly secured to the scaffolding because of a loose clamp coupling,
c) short arms of different lengths may have to be used or may need to be trimmed onsite to ensure that it is of a suitable length for providing the lateral stability,
d) the scaffolding may still not be fully secured in a lateral direction as equal and opposite forces may need to be exerted onto the scaffolding in a horizontal direction in order to keep the scaffolding firmly positioned in the elevator shaft.
For other building elements located adjacent a building, support may be required from time to time from the building structure also. For example for a swing stage suspended adjacent a building and that may travel up and down a building for maintenance, window cleaning and similar, the swing stage may be desirous of contacting with the building to reduce the degree of undesired movement of the swing stage. Such support will need to cater for the fact that the swing stage travels up and down relative the building.
It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide improvements in building components and structures that at least address one or more of the abovementioned disadvantages and/or to provide the public with a useful choice.